The Social Network
Social connection enables dehumanization
Adam Waytz & Nicholas Epley
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, forthcoming
Abstract:
Being socially connected has considerable benefits for oneself, but may have negative consequences for evaluations of others. In particular, being socially connected to close others satisfies the need for social connection, and creates disconnection from more distant others. We therefore predicted that feeling socially connected would increase the tendency to dehumanize more socially distant others. Four experiments support this prediction. Those led to feel socially connected were less likely to attribute humanlike mental states to members of various social groups (Exps. 1 & 2), particularly distant others compared to close others (Exp. 3), and were also more likely to recommend harsh treatment for dehumanized others (i.e., terrorist detainees, Exp. 4). Discussion addresses the mechanisms by which social connection enables dehumanization, and the varied behavioral implications that result.
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Frederick Weil, Matthew Lee & Edward Shihadeh
Social Science Research, forthcoming
Abstract:
Research shows that those with greater social capital enjoy better physical and mental health. The current study illuminates a paradox of social capital which may afflict those involved in traumatic events. Several years of survey data reveal a dynamic picture of the link between social capital and stress following hurricane Katrina. Results reveal that initally after Katrina, those who were more socially embedded carried the greatest load with respect to helping the displaced population, thus experiencing more stress. But over time, the most socially-involved then snapped back from their stressful experiences more rapidly than isolates. This confirms that over the course of stressful events, social involvement first exposes people to more stress, but as time passes, provides them a significant buffer against negative psychosocial experiences.
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Collaborative learning in networks
Winter Mason & Duncan Watts
Yahoo! Working Paper, June 2011
Abstract:
Complex problems in science, business, and engineering typically require some tradeoff between exploitation of known solutions and exploration for novel ones, where in many cases information about known solutions can also disseminate among individual problem solvers through formal or informal networks. Prior research on complex problem solving by collectives has found the counter-intuitive result that inefficient networks, meaning networks that disseminate information relatively slowly, can perform better than efficient networks for problems that require extended exploration. In this paper, we report on a series of 256 web-based experiments in which groups of 16 individuals collectively solved a complex problem and shared information through different communication networks. As expected, we found that collective exploration improved average success over independent exploration because good solutions could diffuse through the network. In contrast to prior work, however, we found that efficient networks outperformed inefficient networks, even though the qualitative properties of the problem space were thought to favor inefficient networks. We explain this result in terms of individual-level explore-exploit decisions, which we find were influenced by the network structure as well as by strategic considerations and the relative payoff between maxima. We conclude by discussing implications for real-world problem solving and possible extensions.
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Ideology, Power, and the Structure of Policy Networks
Adam Douglas Henry
Policy Studies Journal, August 2011, Pages 361-383
Abstract:
This article investigates the role of power and ideology in the endogenous formation of policy networks. According to the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF), shared ideology (conceptualized as a system of policy-relevant beliefs and values) is the primary driver of collaboration within policy subsystems. On the other hand, Resource Dependency Theory suggests that power-seeking is an important rationale behind network structure, and that collaborative ties are formed primarily on the basis of perceived influence. Hypotheses are tested using a new method of egocentric network correlation, based on survey data of policy networks in five regional planning subsystems in California (N = 506). Results suggest that ideology is an important force behind network cohesion: Not only do policy elites systematically avoid networking with ideologically dissimilar actors but collaborative ties are also systematically formed among actors with shared beliefs. Power-seeking does not operate on a network-wide scale but may drive network formation among coalitions of ideologically similar agents.
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Steve McDonald
Social Science Research, forthcoming
Abstract:
While work experience is generally seen as an indicator of human capital, it may also reflect the accumulation of social capital. This study examines how work experience facilitates informal access to employment-that is, being matched with a new employer through an informal search or informal recruitment through the non-search process (without engaging in a job search). Results from fixed effects regression on panel data from the NLSY show that experience is related to informal entry into new jobs, though in a very specific way. The odds of being informally recruited into a new job improve as work experience in related occupations rises, but this relationship holds only among men. These findings highlight the social benefits of occupation-specific work experience that accrue to men but not to women, suggesting an alternative explanation for the gender disparity in wage returns to experience.
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Delia Baldassarri
Social Science Quarterly, September 2011, Pages 631-655
Objectives: Associational life may foster political integration or amplify division, depending on how individuals partition themselves into groups and whether their multiple affiliations embed them into concentric or cross-cutting social circles. Starting from this premise, I relate trends in associational membership to political partisanship, and ask if there is any evidence of increased political polarization in the associative patterns of Americans.
Methods: Using GSS data (1974-2004) on affiliations to 16 types of groups, I plot trends and run multilevel models to examine changes over time in the partisan allegiances of group members and patterns of overlapping memberships.
Results: The often-lamented decline in group membership affects primarily the category of single-group members and is limited to a few types of groups. The density of the network of overlapping memberships has remained stable over time and there are no real changes in the patterns of shared memberships between group types, nor do Republicans and Democrats differ in their patterns of preferential affiliation. Although political partisanship does not drive patterns of group affiliation, group members, especially those affiliated with multiple groups, are more radical in their partisan identification than nonmembers, and most types of groups have become politically more heterogeneous over time.
Conclusion: The puzzling finding that group types are not becoming more partisan, while group members are, leads to the hypothesis (to be tested in future research) that civil society polarization is occurring at the level of actual groups, and not group types.
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Emergence of segregation in evolving social networks
Adam Douglas Henry, Paweł Prałat & Cun-Quan Zhang
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 24 May 2011, Pages 8605-8610
Abstract:
In many social networks, there is a high correlation between the similarity of actors and the existence of relationships between them. This paper introduces a model of network evolution where actors are assumed to have a small aversion from being connected to others who are dissimilar to themselves, and yet no actor strictly prefers a segregated network. This model is motivated by Schelling's [Schelling TC (1969) Models of segregation. Am Econ Rev 59:488-493] classic model of residential segregation, and we show that Schelling's results also apply to the structure of networks; namely, segregated networks always emerge regardless of the level of aversion. In addition, we prove analytically that attribute similarity among connected network actors always reaches a stationary distribution, and this distribution is independent of network topology and the level of aversion bias. This research provides a basis for more complex models of social interaction that are driven in part by the underlying attributes of network actors and helps advance our understanding of why dysfunctional social network structures may emerge.
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What Do People Talk About? Drivers of Immediate and Ongoing Word-of-Mouth
Jonah Berger & Eric Schwartz
Journal of Marketing Research, forthcoming
Abstract:
Word-of-mouth has impacts on diffusion and sales, but why are certain products talked about more than others, both right after consumers first experience them and in the months that follow? This paper examines how product characteristics shape immediate and ongoing WOM. The authors use a hierarchical model (simultaneously reflecting underlying differences across people and products) to analyze a unique dataset of everyday conversations for over 300 different products. They also conduct both a large field experiment across various cities and a controlled laboratory experiment with real conversations. Results indicate that more interesting products get more immediate WOM, but contrary to intuition, do not receive more ongoing WOM over a multi-month period or overall. Products that are cued more by the environment, however, or are more publicly visible, receive more WOM both right away as well as over time. Additional analyses demonstrate which promotional giveaways in WOM marketing campaigns are associated with increased WOM. Overall, the findings shed light on psychological drivers of word-of-mouth and provide insight into designing more effective WOM campaigns.
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Sinan Aral & Dylan Walker
Management Science, forthcoming
Abstract:
We examine how firms can create word-of-mouth peer influence and social contagion by designing viral features into their products and marketing campaigns. To econometrically identify the effectiveness of different viral features in creating social contagion, we designed and conducted a randomized field experiment involving the 1.4 million friends of 9,687 experimental users on Facebook.com. We find that viral features generate econometrically identifiable peer influence and social contagion effects. More surprisingly, we find that passive-broadcast viral features generate a 246% increase in peer influence and social contagion, whereas adding active-personalized viral features generate only an additional 98% increase. Although active-personalized viral messages are more effective in encouraging adoption per message and are correlated with more user engagement and sustained product use, passive-broadcast messaging is used more often, generating more total peer adoption in the network. Our work provides a model for how randomized trials can identify peer influence in social networks.
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Is gossip power? The inverse relationships between gossip, power, and likability
Sally Farley
European Journal of Social Psychology, August 2011, Pages 574-579
Abstract:
Despite widespread conjecture regarding the functions and consequences of gossip, little empirical attention has investigated how gossipers are perceived by others. In the present study, 128 individuals were asked to think about a person who either frequently or rarely discussed others while not in their presence. Gender of the target and valence of the gossip were also manipulated. High-frequency gossipers were perceived as less powerful and were liked less than low-frequency gossipers, and those who gossiped negatively were liked less than those who gossiped positively. High-frequency negative gossipers emerged as the least powerful and least likable targets. These results are discussed in relation to the transfer of attitudes recursively effect.
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Adam Gamoran et al.
Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, forthcoming
Abstract:
Disadvantages faced by Hispanic children in the U.S., compared to non-Hispanic Whites, have been widely reported. Economic differences account for some of the gaps, but the social isolation of Hispanic families also serves as a barrier to children's success. Whereas Hispanic families tend to have strong kinship networks, their social ties often do not encompass the school and other authority systems. As a result, Hispanic families may have less access to social capital, that is, relations of trust and shared expectations that foster the flow of relevant information and support social norms that contribute to children's academic and social development. To study the role of social capital in child development, we embarked on a school-randomized trial in two cities with large Hispanic populations: San Antonio, Texas, and Phoenix, Arizona. In this paper, we report on first-year data from what will be a three-year longitudinal study, including 24 of an eventual 52 schools and about 1,300 of what will be a sample of over 3,000 children. We aimed to manipulate social capital through an intervention called Families and Schools Together (FAST), a multi-family after-school program that enhances relations among families, between parents and schools, and between parents and children through a sequence of structured activities over 8 weekly sessions. In the first year, 12 schools were randomly assigned to participate in FAST, and 12 served as controls. Data come from district administrative records, surveys of parents prior to FAST, and surveys of parents and teachers immediately after FAST. Surveys prior to FAST confirm that Hispanic parents have less extensive parent-school networks compared to non-Hispanic Whites. Comparisons of school means on post-FAST surveys indicate that parents in FAST schools experience more extensive social networks than those in control schools, but the differences are much more apparent in Phoenix than in San Antonio. Similarly, a pattern of better behavioral outcomes for children in FAST schools is evident in Phoenix but not San Antonio. Individual-level comparisons suggest that for some outcomes, effects may be larger for non-Hispanic Whites than for Hispanics, which would undermine potential contributions to reducing inequality.
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Hans Noel & Brendan Nyhan
Social Networks, July 2011, Pages 211-218
Abstract:
An increasing number of scholars are using longitudinal social network data to try to obtain estimates of peer or social influence effects. These data may provide additional statistical leverage, but they can introduce new inferential problems. In particular, while the confounding effects of homophily in friendship formation are widely appreciated, homophily in friendship retention may also confound causal estimates of social influence in longitudinal network data. We provide evidence for this claim in a Monte Carlo analysis of the statistical model used by Christakis, Fowler, and their colleagues in numerous articles estimating "contagion" effects in social networks. Our results indicate that homophily in friendship retention induces significant upward bias and decreased coverage levels in the Christakis and Fowler model if there is non-negligible friendship attrition over time.
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Social networks and selectivity in Brazilian migration to Japan and the United States
Sarah Zell & Emily Skop
Population, Space and Place, September/October 2011, Pages 469-488
Abstract:
This research analyses the composition of Brazilian migrants in two case studies, comparing the demographics of first-time migrants over time in the network between Maringá, Brazil and Japan with that between Criciúma, Brazil and the US. Couched primarily within migrant social network theory, the research explores how the legal framework operating in each case influences the level and composition of Brazilian migration over time. Brazilian migration to Japan generally occurs within the context of a legally regulated 'ethnic-return' guest worker program, whereas Brazilian migration to the US is largely unauthorised. The research shows that social networks do operate to diversify the migrant demographic composition over time in both migration flows. However, the development of and dependence on social networks appears stronger in migration to the US (at least initially), which suggests a relation between the legal context of the migration flow and the form and strength of its social networks.